Generic hardware question for ripping Blurays

[Darksoul71]

Hi there,

I am looking for a new preferably external Bluray burner which I want to use to both rip my blurays so I can store them on my XBMC Linux box for playback as well as burning recorded HDTV streams to BD. I want to use DVDFab HD Decrypter to "rip" my blurays (http://www.dvdfab.com/hd-decrypter.htm). Unfortunately the page is quite generic about the supported BD reading devices.

So here is my question:
Does anyone have experiences with ripping BDs in an external BD drive ?

I was thinking about buying something like a LG BP40NS20. My PC runs Windows 7 x64.

Thanks for any feedback.

-D$

[Darksoul71]

Wow...I did not expect SO many answers....:rolleyes:

Ok, I somewhat was able to "answer" the question myself.

I was able to rip a bluray with the test option blu-ray copy within DVDFab Decrypter Free. As it seems I have to shell out a few bucks to get this one:
http://www.dvdfab.com/blu-ray-copy.htm

As hardware I used a standard SATA bluray drive from LG connected via USB-to-SATA adapter. Now I am pretty confident that one of the external blu-ray thingies I have selected will work nicely as well....

-D$

[SuLyMaN]

Vso software has a free bluray ripping app. Google it up.

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[Ch3vr0n]

DVDCrap lolz

Anydvd HD is about 10x better, beats decryptions in 99% of the cases before DVDCrap does. Anydvd also doesnt steal freeware, slap it's own GUI on it and asks ppl to pay for it. AnyDVD also is about 5x cheaper in the long run. When you go look at the recoding itself well, same story. Quality aint too great and the freeware available here "BD-Rebuilder" does a far better job and again, bdrb doesnt use stolen code.

What the drive is concerned well, can't go wrong with LG.

[setarip_old]

@Ch3vr0n

Hi!

You say:When you go look at the recoding itself well, same story. Quality aint too greatIf both programs just remove protection, why would there be any difference in the outcome?

[Ch3vr0n]

they don't just remove protection. Only AnyDVD HD does that. DVDCrap blu-ray copy can also decrypt. Which is why i mentioned the encoding part :)

[setarip_old]

they don't just remove protection. Only AnyDVD HD does that. DVDCrap blu-ray copy can also decrypt. Which is why i mentioned the encoding part Then you're comparing the proverbial "apples and oranges"...

BTW - Is the name of the VSO program really "DVDCrap"?

[Ch3vr0n]

OP wasn't talking about VSO but DVDFab, which isn't a VSO program :) I like to call that thing personally "dvdcrap" ;)

[DVDean]

As hardware I used a standard SATA bluray drive from LG connected via USB-to-SATA adapter. Now I am pretty confident that one of the external blu-ray thingies I have selected will work nicely as well....

-D$
LG Blu-ray drives(other than BH14NS40) should always be a last choice if your primary concern is ripping. They are the slowest rippers(without the firmware mod). Pioneer and Lite-on drives have not been riplocked and are quicker.

[Ch3vr0n]

True that they have riplock, but that is nothing mcse can't fix. If you look at build quality and drive longevity they beat ur puoneer and lite-on. I tried those brands, within a year they were dead. My bh10, bh08 en gh20 are a couple years old now and they still go as strong as if they were brand new

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[DVDean]

I try to keep in mind that everyone is not willing to play around with flashing their firmwares with modded versions :). And when the OP spoke of looking for a USB slim model, MCSE may not be a remedy for the problem.

I do like my LG Blu-ray burners. But of the LG, Pio, and Lite-on BD burners I've bought in the last 2 1/2 years, the only one to fail was a LG WH10LS30 at just under a year.

And I have nothing but praise for LG's warranty service, quickly getting me a replacement for the drive.

My own experience with longevity has not shown me a clear winner.

[gearrob]

I always use Lite-On drives as they have a much higher success rate. AnyDVD is really the most reliable choice. The other DVD Crapware is hit and miss.

[Darksoul71]

Thanks for all the hints !

Ok, here is what I have been trying to destil from all those postings:
1) AnyDVD HD might most probably be the best choice when it come to ripping Blu Rays in regard to support

2) LG Bluray drives are not perfect in terms of speed. External is not mandatory but I feel in the next few year I will rather switch to compact PCs than using big tower cases again.
I should mention that modding firmware is my last resort. I screwed up my CD ROM burner back then when those thingies costed 400€.

3) DVDFab Blue-Ray copy might not be the best option although their "shrinking" functionality which also supports your GPU sounded pretty neat.

Since I am on Linux as main system I find MakeMKV pretty interesting but the forum and their homepage is a mess. It is hard to determine the exact hardware requirements for Blu-Ray drives (if there are any), if MakeMKV is still beta, if ripping newer Blu-Rays might become impossible, and so on.

It would be nice if someone with experiences using MakeMKV (either under Linux or Windows) writes a few lines.

Edit:
@Ch3vr0n: I think with "stealing freeware" you talk about the integration of ffmpeg under their tools, right ?

Thanks,
D$

[Ch3vr0n]

Ffmpeg isn't the only thing they "borrow". They actively reverse engineered or use(d) successful decryptions by slysoft, and other code from other tools. There simply is no match to anydvd. And yes, LG drives may not be the fastest OEM but from personal experience they are very reliable, durable and the riplock is easily removed with mcse.

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[Darksoul71]

Thanks for the hint to MCSE. I will pay attention to the supported manufacturers / models when I select a BD burner.

The behaviour of the guys / gals over at dvdfab really sucks. I was not aware of this. I must admit that I have been using DVDFabDecrypter pretty long since there are no other free options available anymore which are adjusted to newer DVD copy protection mechanisms...but that is a different story.

[Ch3vr0n]

MCSE pretty much supports any model. Very easy to use too. Load up the firmware you can find on the official manufacturer site or firmwarehq.com (i think), tick the box that sais "increase read speed". Save the new firmware (notice the speedpatched in the name) & Flash the new firmware. All done. Oh and it wasn't until there was a major outcry of the community of the stolen ffmpeg code that they decided to post a statement on the dvdfab site that it uses it's code.

[Darksoul71]

Ok, I have now bought an external BD burner from LG. A LG BP40NS20 Super Multi Blue to be more specific.
I haven't tested MCSE so far since I am doing a pretty time intense evaluation which "ripping" software I am going to buy. AnyDVD HD seems to be the most reliable option for new Blurays but is a bit complicate to buy for me since I do not own a credit card. MakeMKV does a nice job on many older Blurays plus it adds Bluray support to Linux (which is a nice add-on to my HTPC running XBMC) and does automagic conversion of Bluray subtitles into MKV compatible formats :)

I think in the end I have to decide wether I want the ability to rip the latest stuff but only under Windows or if I choose the Multi-OS approach but can live with one or the other newer BD which might not be rip-able.

Thanks for all your input !

-D$

[DVDean]

Glad to hear that you're on you're way. I got my hands on a firmware dump from the drive and had a look at it with a hex editor. The actual drive model inside that USB enclosure is a BT20N. It is not yet supported by MCSE to remove riplock. It reads BD-R at 6x, but slows to 4.8x for commercial BD Video. DVD Video is not rip-locked.

For the sake of comparison, you're looking at average 26 min./50 min. to rip BDSL/BDDL versus 16 min./35 min. for a non-riplocked half-height drive. If you are not ripping a great deal of movies, the difference may not matter to you.

AnyDVDHD has been flawless for me for some time now. It is a good option. I will be interested to hear your results with MakeMKV :)

[Darksoul71]

Yes, MCSE seems to have no support for my BD so far. I tinkered around a bit myself a few days ago :)

MakeMKV is a kind of hit and miss. Most older BDs can be extracted fine within reasonable time. A few newer BDs I got my hands on (e.g. Predator Hunter Edition, MiB3, Ice Age 4) were not "ripable" at all. Some simply make MakeMKV die while some produce at least produce a set of debug file which I did send to the MakeMKV folks for further analysis.

Strangely enough some BDs (e.g. Resident Evil 1-4) make MakeMKV slow down like a crawl and ripping takes up to a whopping 4 hrs. My external BD drive seems to be more sensitive to finger prints during ripping BDs than my BD SAP is. A simple finger print will make my system go haywire :rolleyes:

All this is currently under Windows 7 x64 so far since ripping BDs puts a surprisingly high CPU load to the host which my Linux box (AMD E350) couldn't take at all :eek:

In regard to MakeMKV versus AnyDVD I am still unsure what to buy. AnyDVD HD supports newer BDs (which I rarely buy) but a license for 2 years update is as expensive as a lifetime license for MakeMKV. MakeMKV on the other hand while it supports my favorized OS (Linux) has it's issues with certain copy protection schemes....